Koenraad Van Balen is full professor in construction materials at the KU Leuven, director of the Raymond Lemaire International Center for Conservation (RLICC) and holder of the Unesco chair on preventive conservation, monitoring and maintenance of monuments and sites (PRECOM3OS). He was the first Secretary-General of the International Scientific ICOMOS Committee on Structures (ISCARSAH). He has numerous publications and managed different research projects dealing with heritage preservation, ancient and new sustainable construction materials and is actively involved in research strategies on Cultural Heritage at European level.